Complaint against Judge / Vita Pro story

Here is the link to complain:
http://www.scjc.state.tx.us/

The Story concerning the VITAPRO VERDICT of Emblezzment,Scam, Abuse of Inmates, Bribery, Political Corruption

Two acquited of bribery in VitaPro prison food scandal

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/04/23/0423vitapro.html

After a short, unusual retrial, a Houston federal judge Tuesday drops charges against former Texas prisons chief Andy Collins and Canadian entrepreneur Yank Barry. By Mike Ward
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Former Texas prisons chief Andy Collins and Canadian entrepreneur Yank Barry were acquitted by a Houston federal judge Tuesday of bribery charges stemming from a headline-grabbing VitaPro prison food scandal a decade ago.

After an unusual two-hour trial in Houston, in which lawyers presented limited evidence without cross-examination and made only closing arguments, U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes tossed out the bribery, money-laundering and conspiracy charges against both men — in a verdict that both sides agreed not to appeal.

Hughes announced his decision after a brief recess.

"The government did not prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt," Hughes said. "You guys are free. Whatever restraints remained on you go away." Collins, 57, and Barry, 60, quickly hailed the verdict as justice done. Federal and state officials who were involved in the inquiry bitterly denounced it as just the opposite.

The verdict officially brought to an end the long-running, on-again-off-again criminal case that began after an American-Statesman story in 1996 detailed how a $33.7 million state contract for VitaPro, a soy-based meat substitute, was pushed through without required competitive bids by Collins and other prison officials.

When he retired in December 1995, Collins went to work for VitaPro as a $1,000-a-day consultant.

In 2001, after the first trial, a federal jury found that Barry, then president of Montreal-based VitaPro Foods Inc., paid two $10,000 bribes to Collins for pushing the no-bid contract for VitaPro while Collins was still the prisons director.

Four years later, Hughes tossed out the verdicts after branding the government's key witness, Patrick Graham, a liar without credibility. Graham was a federal informant in the case as well as in a separate prosecution on corruption charges of Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards and former Houston Mayor Fred Hofheinz. His credibility came under intense challenge in both cases.

Questions about his credibility caused investigators in the VitaPro case to take extra steps to buttress their case before criminal charges were filed.

Hughes' controversial decision to throw out the jury verdicts triggered new legal skirmishing that resulted in a federal appeals court last August ordering a new trial, ruling that the jury knew of Graham's "poor character" and found Collins and Barry guilty anyway. Both sides agreed to Tuesday's expedited trial format, which had no jury, witnesses or cross-examinations, and they allowed Hughes to decide the final verdict.

Collins and Barry, both present in the courtroom Tuesday when the acquittals were announced, were elated.

For years, Barry had maintained that the case was politically motivated because then-Gov. George W. Bush and his supporters were trying to squash VitaPro to protect Texas' powerful cattle industry from competition. Bush and cattle industry officials have repeatedly denied that claim.

"All Mr. Collins wants is a job," Collins' attorney Terry Hart said. "This has tainted him to the point that he doesn't even want to ask people he knows for a job because he doesn't want this to taint them." Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Cobe had little to say afterward, according to reporters who were in the courtroom. "We advocated that they were guilty, and the judge advocated that they were not guilty," he told the Houston Chronicle's Web site.

John Moriarty, the inspector general for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice who helped investigate the case, appeared disgusted.

"The grand jury, the prosecutors, the FBI, the jury, our investigators, we all came to the same conclusion: that they were guilty," said Moriarty, who was present for Tuesday's verdicts. "If we had to do this again, we would do it again — the same way."

The case began in early 1996 after the VitaPro deal made headlines and a flurry of investigations quickly started. New revelations kept the scandal alive for months, including that Barry was an ex-con and that prison officials' plan to market VitaPro at a profit for the state collapsed.

The resulting ethics scandal in Texas' prison system brought a housecleaning in the top ranks of the system, the first ethics code for prison administrators and a quick drop of VitaPro from prison menus amid complaints that the soy additive made convicts flatulent. mward@statesman.com; 445-1712

VitaPro: The story so far

1995: At Texas prisons chief Andy Collins' urging, the prison system signs a no-bid, $33.7 million contract for the soy-based meat substitute.

1996: Collins retires as prison director, goes to work for VitaPro Foods Inc. Federal and state investigations are launched after the American-Statesman reveals details of the secretive purchase deal. 1998: Collins and Canadian entrepreneur Yank Barry, then president of VitaPro, indicted on bribery, money-laundering and conspiracy charges by a federal grand jury.

2001:Pair is convicted by a federal court jury after a tumultuous trial. 2005:U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes throws out the verdicts because a key witness was not credible. 2007: Federal appeals court orders a new trial.

Tuesday: Hughes acquits Barry and Collins during a brief retrial. Case closed.

Link to complain about this judge: http://www.scjc.state.tx.us/

4/23/2008, PAPA states: Since This case started, several Inmates have written that they ate this stuff and know that is where their cancer came from. One Inmate wrote that he worked in the Unit's Kitchen when the sacks of Vita Pro arrived and written in large letters on the side of the bag it stated, "NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION".An Inmate I know just died couple of weeks ago from cancer that ate VITA PRO. This judge set free two embezzlers, murders, con artist.Appears to be some more of that "you scratch my back and I will scratch yours", while the innocent goes to jail, the real criminals get set free because of who and what they know. Flo, PAPA